Tournament too costly for nations to host

After some doubt, there will be a National Aboriginal Hockey Championship (NAHC) this year after all, but the tournament will not be as big as in previous years.
For a while it appeared there would be no national championship in 2011. That’s because no suitable group had offered to host the tournament, which traditionally attracts about 10 female and 10 male squads from across the country.

Since no group had submitted a bid to host the 2011 tourney, the Aboriginal Sports Circle (ASC) extended the bid deadline in December. But even that did not bring any hosting offers.

As a result, officials from several provinces indicated they would not send any players to this year’s tournament because of the ASC’s delays in announcing a host city.

When it appeared the tournament might be scrapped altogether, a Saskatoon group stepped up during the second week of January and offered to host the event.

ASC board members voted on Jan. 21 to accept Saskatoon’s offer. And the city was awarded the tournament, but because of the relatively late announcement, only four provinces—Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario—have indicated they would be sending teams to the tournament.

Norman Ettawacappo, the ASC’s Major Games Liaison, believes that is not necessarily a discouraging fact, even though previous tournaments have had more than double that number of entries.

“This isn’t that bad,” he said. “The less teams you have the easier it is for the hosts to service them.”

Ettawacappo said now that a host site has been announced, some others might also register to take part.
Even if they don’t, Ettawacappo said various other national championships have been held in several sports that have only attracted representation from a few provinces.

Ettawacappo explained it was not a shock that a host for the 2011 NAHC had not surfaced earlier.

“I’m not surprised, because of the challenges faced by previous hosts,” he said. “Most of them have broken even or they’ve lost money.”

Though they do receive registration fees from participating squads, the hosts are obligated to buy jerseys for all participating players in the tournament. Plus they have to organize a banquet for all entrants.
Tournament expenses also start to pile up when considering ice rental costs and officiating fees.

Ettawacappo said some previous hosts have also paid for some of the meal expenses for participants. Or they’ve subsidized their accommodations during the tournament.
A host for the 2010 tournament was also difficult to find. Since there was no group interested in hosting that event, the ASC was forced to step in and organize the tourney with its own officials, staging it in Ottawa.

Ettawacappo said that was a scenario that could not be repeated this year.

“We just had a change in management,” he said. “We didn’t have the manpower to do this.”

No doubt it would have been a dark time if the ASC had cancelled this year’s NAHC. Even more so considering the 2011 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), which were slated for Milwaukee this summer, were previously cancelled.

The NAIG Council nixed those games after Milwaukee pulled out as host and a suitable replacement site could not be found.

Ettawacappo said having to cancel another major Aboriginal sporting event would have been disappointing.
“That’s been a fear for some of the board members and hockey committee members,” he said. “It wouldn’t look good for the ASC, even though we’re separate from the NAIG Council.”

ASC Chair Tex Marshall is thrilled the NAHC was not cancelled.

“I think it would have been very disappointing,” he said. “Especially for those who are in their final year of eligibility in this age group.”

The NAHC features bantam- and midget-aged players. The female division, however, also allows some over-agers to compete.

Marshall said he too is not surprised groups are unwilling to stage the tournament in their cities.

“I think it’s a championship that has a lot of costs associated with it,” he said. “That’s probably why regions are hesitant to host it.”

The tournament is usually held in late April to early May. Dates for this year have not yet been set.